Becoming Claire Cullen
by waterlily93
Summary: Claire had always been punished for something she couldn't control.Then she met the Cullens who became her adoptive family, loving her for who she is.But she finds that they are closer to being family than she thought.Only Claire and Matt are mine!R&R!
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1:

When Life Hands You Lemons.

I saw mom, dad, and I walking up to the desk of a large room, I was carrying a small bag while dad was carrying a large bag. Moms eyes were red and puffy, from crying it looked like. I watched my self walk across the room, head down, dragging behind my parents to the person at the desk, "Mary Claire" I heard dad saying to the woman. The woman looked through her papers for a bit and looked at me. Wow I looked a sight.

My waist length brown hair was all in a mess, I was wearing the dress I am wearing right now, a sun dress I had made over the summer that even though it was the dead of winter I didn't want to not wear it, it was a halter top that fell to about my knees, it was of this really pretty floral print fabric I had chosen out just for this dress, under the dress, I had on a white long sleeved shirt that belled out at the elbows becoming billowy and hanging down more the further down my arm the sleeve went. I had on purple leggings and ballet flats. This is my favorite outfit, it makes me feel like me.

Was this going to happen today? I had looked up to stare at the woman when I had realized that she was looking at me. Where was this? I looked around the spacious room. It really was a nice room, large with a tall arched ceiling. There was a fire going in the huge fire place in the corner of the room, with a glass table and some burgundy upholstered chairs. The floor was a plain cream colored tile with a tapestry looking rug under the glass table and chairs. On the other side of the room, was a doorway that lead to a wide staircase that went up a ways and then split, right and left, at a large window that looked out across what looked from where I could see, to be a clearing ending in trees and mountains way in the back ground. Where is this, I wonder.

"Claire?...Claire! Mary Claire! Snap out of it!!!!....MOOOOOOMMMMMMMMM!!!!!!!" Angelica brought me out of my reverie. "Shut up Angelica! I'm right here, what do you want?" I practically yelled at her to get her to stop screaming. "You were doing it again" she said, she looked like she was going to cry. "Sorry Angie, I cant help it" I said trying to calm her.

Suddenly mom burst in and, immediately understanding what was going on, she grabbed me and practically ran from the room. "Mary Claire, I told you never to do that again" she snarled at me. "I'm sorry mom, I cant help it!" I protested. "What are you doing?" I asked as I watch her grab two bags... a big bag and a small bag..... oh_. _Mom and dad were taking me to St. Luke Children's Home. I had seen my room there once before, but I thought it was going to be a while before they decided to take me there. Not so soon_......._then reality hit.

'How could they!' I cried mentally 'I am their child! They cant just throw me away, send me to a home! I don't belong there anyway! I'm not crazy! I just can see things others cant! Why cant they take me for who I am! I know they love me, I really do but it still absolutely tore me to pieces to see them just leave me like that_. _Like I don't mean anything to them! I guess its their choice though, and I really do understand why they are doing this, I know that they really do think I am mentally unstable and that they want the best care they can get for me. Well at least thats what dad wants, mom just wants me away, where I can't scare her. Oh well, I'll just pack up my bags and be a good daughter.'

I managed to pack my bags and set them by the door before I broke down. I curled up on my bed, sobbing and shaking until my teeth chattered. 'I love my family!' I screamed in my mind, 'I love my friends! I love my school! I love my house! I love my room! I don't want to go! I cant go! They can't make me!' Then my dad walked in the room, I heard him catch his breath as if he was holding back a sob. Was he as sad about this as I was? "Dad, please don't make me leave, please! I don't want to go to a home!" Oops, if I had any chance of staying at home before, it was gone now, I had forgotten that my parents hadn't told me where I was going. "I'm sorry Claire, but we just can't take care of you here. What if something happens and we don't know what to do? You will be safer there, happier there, surrounded by people who are going through the same thing. Ohhh, come here baby" he said picking me up. It wasn't hard for him to do, even though I was 17, I was small for my age, totaling at 4ft, 10in. He cradled me for a bit then took me downstairs to the awaiting car. I didn't fight it. I knew it wouldn't do me any good and I didn't want my parents to leave me angry. Dad sat me in the car and I buckled myself in. He climbed in the drivers seat and mom climbed in the passenger seat.

After a while of riding in silence, I had to ask, "Does Angelica know whats going on?" I asked, hoping that she would never have to know, yet hoping that she would come visit me at the same time. "Um, no honey, she thinks we are taking you to the doctors again" dad said. Then the edges of my vision blurred and a new image took over. Mom and dad were leaving the home, and going to a funeral home, having a tombstone made... with my name on it and my life motto inscribed on its face under my name: "_If life hands you lemons, make lemonade, give it away, and plant the seeds to make more lemon trees for everyone to enjoy"_ I remembered where I first came up with it. It had been In forth grade for a writing assignment. Our teacher had asked us to take a saying that we had heard and make it our own. I had come up with that and it had stuck with me.

The vision faded away until I was back in the car. Mom was looking at the window and dad was looking at the road. "You are going to make a tombstone for me. Am I already dead to you or something?" I asked, fighting the tears that where welling up in my eyes, and loosing. "Well honey, the doctor there said that it would be best for you if we didn't come visit, just let you be. And we wanted some closure...." mom said, the first nice thing she had said to me in weeks, that is if you could call it nice. "Oh" was all I could get out between my silent sobs. I looked out my window, trying to do anything but pay attention to what was happening.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter2:

Beautifully Terrifying

We finally arrived at the home, it looked exactly like it had in my vision. And just like in my vision, our family processed to the counter at the head of the room like a funeral procession. Dad in the lead, looking straight ahead as if he was trying to not think about what he was doing, mom trying to hide her puffy red eyes, looking anywhere but at me bringing up the rear, head down, dragging my feet, wanting to do anything in my power to stop this from happening, knowing that what ever I tried to do, would end up doing nothing but making my parents angry, and earning me a bad name at the home. I stood there looking at my feet, not wanting to look around, I had seen it before, when I felt a pair of eyes looking at me. I looked up to stare at the receptionist until she looked back down to her other papers. Back to my feet.

Then, just like it had many times before, my vision started to blur around the edges. I sighed and waited for what ever image would come up, maybe it would be my room again, or better yet, what was outside the big window at the staircase. Instead, all I could see were the most beautiful and terrifying eyes I had ever seen. Liquid topaz, just staring through me, down into my soul, they looked scared, anxious, sad, and almost regretful. "Oh there she goes again, Claire? Claire darling, CLAIRE!" Dad was walking over to me, trying to bring me out of my reverie. "Yes dad?" I said, my voice not much more than a whisper, I couldn't bring myself to look at him, so I looked back down at my feet. "Didn't you just hear what I said?" he asked, a little annoyed, I figured I must be embarrassing him. "No dad, sorry" I mumbled. " I said come on" he growled.

I looked up to see him picking up my big bag, and walking to the wide staircase, mom in tow. I followed, walking behind them up the stairwell, and turning to the right at the top and walking along a balcony that had door after door after door along the wall. I looked over the edge of the balcony on my left into the room below to see the receptionist staring after us. Dad finally stopped at a door, took a card and slid it through the little slot on the handle. It beeped and dad held it open for mom and I.

My room looked like a hotel room. We walked in and immediately to the right, there was a bathroom. We continued through and there was a small flat screen TV, a radio/CD player, and a laptop sitting plugged into the wall on a desk in the corner. Through a doorway was my bed, it was a small, single bed that was half filled with pillows. To the right of the bed was a floor to ceiling window that opened up onto a balcony facing a courtyard and small garden. Back inside, I could see that by the door that led back to the first room was a big dresser with a floor length mirror beside it. Dad set my bag down, and following his lead, so did I. After seeing to it that I was settled in, mom and dad said good bye and left.

Trying not to cry, I stumbled over to the CD player, wanting to listen to some music but not sure what music to listen to, music always helped me feel better. I found a CD that had a whole bunch of Celtic and classical music on it. It looked different than what I was used to so I put it in, hoping there wouldn't be anything in it that would remind me of home or something familiar. I wasn't paying attention to what I was doing, my mind a blank. I found myself coloring, well more like drawing some odd, colorful, circular designs on a blank piece of paper that I had found with some random colored pencils.

I immersed myself in these drawings, letting the music take over, making them more and more intricate until I was startled by a knock on my door. A small yelp of surprise escaped. I heard a soft chuckle come from the other side of the door. "May I come in?" asked an amazingly pleasant voice. Instead of answering, I just got up and unlocked the door, going back to my drawings. I wasn't sure I wanted company.

A second later, I heard the door open very slowly, trying not to scare me I guessed. I heard them walk over and felt them sit down on the other side of the sofa. "My what a beautiful drawing" said the voice. It was lovely, like velvet, almost singing, and extremely comforting. Finally I looked up to see who the owner of the voice was. I gasped. There beside me on the couch was the most beautifully terrifying thing I had ever seen, they had golden, brown hair that fell around their face, the palest skin with an almost bluish tint to it, and topaz eyes.

The topaz eyes from my vision. I looked into them, they did not seem sad like in my vision though. They were lighter and they seemed curious, pitying, gentle, knowing, and... wise. He looked to be about my age and he had dark almost purplish circles under his eyes, like he hadn't slept for days. His features where perfect, he had an angular face, that reminded me of a Greek statue carving of a god.

"Hello there, my name is Matthiew, you must be Mary Claire" he said softly. I couldn't find my voice so I just nodded. "Well nice to meet you, I just started volunteering here today and I don't know anyone," he said, explaining his visit "When I heard that you where knew too, I came up to see if you wanted to be friends", he looked at me expectantly. Without thinking I scooted over beside him and leaned into his body. I was surprised by how cold his skin was, until I remembered it was winter. He shifted his position a bit to where I was leaning against his chest.

I felt safe there, like nothing could harm me. We sat like that for a long while, not saying anything. After a bit, he started to hum along to the music. His voice was barely above a whisper, yet it some how managed to ring throughout the whole room. It was soft, gentle, beautiful, deep and soothing. I found myself drifting off to sleep.

Next thing I knew, I was lying in my bed, under the covers, in a cocoon of pillows. I looked around for Matthiew, and not seeing him, I looked at the clock. 2:30 AM. Ugh, I turned back over and slowly fell back asleep. That was the first time I dreamed about them.

In my dream, I was talking with my great aunt. That was how I knew it was a dream. My great aunt Mary Alice, who I was named after, had died one day, before mom and dad where even born. She was the reason mom was scared of me and dad thought I was mentally unstable. She had also had visions. I took after her in many ways.

We where both 4ft, 10in, she also had long dark brown hair that was almost black and reached to her waist, at least she had in the pictures I had seen, but now in my dream, it was short and spiky. She and I shared a lot of our facial features, small and petite, but in my dream, hers where perfect. Dad tells me that we had the same weird eyes. My eyes change from blue to green depending on I'm wearing, my mood, and my surroundings. Another thing that told me that this was a dream was that she looked strikingly like Matthiew, the same pale skin, same colored eyes, same circles under them, and equally as beautiful.

She was looking at me like she was expecting me, and she was surrounded by others, who I didn't see as clearly in my dream though I could tell that one had dirty blond hair and was tall, one had brown hair and looked like a bear, one that had light blond hair and was average hight, one that had long blond hair and was relatively tall but not as tall as the others, one that had bronze colored hair and was about the same size as the one with dirty blond hair, and one that had long chocolate brown hair that reached down to her waist, she was smaller than the other girl with long blond hair but was still bigger than my aunt and I. They all were extremely pale but I couldn't see their faces clearly. I felt I should be scared in the dream but I wasn't because I had Matthiew beside me.

Something cold and hard gently shook me awake. I opened my eyes to see Matthiew. But there was something different. His eyes, they were still topaz, but they looked darker. They had the same expression they had in my vision. "Do you want me to get you out of here Mary Claire? Don't worry, you will be completely safe, I wont let anything bad come to you, but this is going to hurt really bad" he said in whispered rush. I knew that he wouldn't let anything happen to me and I didn't want him to look worried so I nodded, glad of any way I could escape this place. I didn't understand why he was suddenly bending down, towards my neck, I thought he was about to kiss me until I felt his teeth sink into my skin.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3:

Vampire

I felt a pulling motion coming from his mouth at my neck, like he was sucking something. Then he lifted his head up, and looked me in the eyes with the most pitiful look that I had ever seen, I had the urge to hug him, to make the look go away, until the burning started.

He must have seen it in my eyes, what was going on because I suddenly felt the bed go out from under me. We were through the big window in the same instant, over the edge of the balcony, and on the ground outside. I noticed the dark outdoors whizzing past before the burning intensified and spread until it enveloped my whole body. I closed my eyes, against the burning as it began to build in intensity. It felt like a fire had been lit inside me and was burning me from the inside out. I couldn't scream, it was too painful for me to make a noise. I felt myself being put down onto what felt like hay. I curled up into a tight ball, that didn't help but I found I couldn't uncurl. Some how, the burning kept intensifying impossibly. I wondered why the fire hadn't killed me yet.

After a while I began to get used to the burning, as if that was possible. At one point, I heard someone start singing into my ear, I focused on that sound, letting the beautiful voice wash over me, and sooth me. I felt a cool hand gently press against my head. It went on like this for what felt like forever. I had no clue how long it had been, there was no marker of time except for when one song ended and another began. About 50 songs later I began to notice a difference in the burning.

First of all, it began to slowly subside in my toes and fingers, but the sensation of burning didn't go away, it intensified even more in my heart, where it now felt like the burning was coming from. It continued like this for another 30 songs, until the burning was only at my heart. My heart was banging against my ribcage at an extremely fast speed, too fast to be good for me. It felt like my heart was beating against the fire, trying to put it out, and loosing. Slowly my heart got tired and slowed down, each beat being a little further from the last. Finally, with one final push, my heart beat loud and hard, smothering the fire, and standing still.

Everything was dark and the singing had stopped. Where was Matthiew? He had said he would be here! I uncurled myself, but something about the movement didn't feel right. I realized that my eyes where closed. I opened them and what I saw took my breath away.

The sun was shining through the window into an old barn. One of the sun rays was shining down on me, and I could see the little dust motes swirling in the air, there were billions of the tiny spheres, and octagons and hexagons, I watched them catch the sunlight and sparkle for a bit. Then I looked to the wall, all the way across the barn, and I could see each individual wood plank, and on each plank, I could see each grain of wood. I sat there stunned into silence at the beauty of it all. Then I remembered Matthiew.

I looked around and saw him, crouching down beside me, with a mixture between a worried, hesitant and amused expression on his face. It was all so beautiful, everything was so pristine and sharply focused. His face was the number one most beautiful thing I had ever seen, even prettier than the dust motes, the grains of the wood, even more stunning than I remembered him looking. "Hi" he said softly "How are you doing?". "I don't kno-" my voice sounded so much like singing that at first I thought I was, "I'm not sure" I said slowly, realizing that I wasn't singing but talking. "Everything is so pretty" I said, realizing after I said it that it probably sounded really stupid "Everything looks so different, all clear and sharp" I tried to explain how things looked, and not even beginning to cover it "I know" he whispered smiling.

"Why don't you sit up a bit" he suggested gently after I was done ogling at my surroundings. I suddenly realized that I was still lying down. I began to sit up but suddenly, in one graceful, and sudden movement, I was up, already sitting. Startled, it took a second for me to get my bearings. I heard him chuckle and I realized that it sounded really clear, and loud, sounding more like a bell than I remembered, ringing throughout the whole barn.

"Why does everything look and sound so clear? Why do I feel so funny? What was burning me up?" I asked in a rush, hoping that he could explain everything to me. "Do you believe in mythical creatures?" He asked me after a pause. "Um, I guess so, why?" I asked, trying to see what mythical creatures had to do with my questions. "I am a vampire, and now so are you, that is why you can see and hear so well. That is why you feel different than when you did as a human. That is what the burning was, you were turning into a vampire" he said. As he had said this his face had turned from amused, to regretful.

"I'm terribly sorry I did this to you, but you see, like you, I can do something really special, I can also tell peoples future. Unlike you, I can only tell someones future if I have a bond with them, and I can only see their future if I try to. The better I know someone the more I can see their future. When I met you, I saw that they where going to experiment on you, to see if they could "fix" you, and I saw that they would end up killing you in the process by accident." As he said that he seemed to get extremely angry, but then looking back down at me all trace of anger left his face and sorrow replaced it. "I just couldn't let them do that to you, I just couldn't" he said as if apologizing. I couldn't help but hug him, he looked so sad. After a bit he looked up at me and smiled sheepishly."Now, you must be extremely thirsty"

That was the first time I noticed the burning in my throat. The feeling was like a mix of being seriously dehydrated and the burning I had felt during the transformation. My hand automatically clasped around my throat. "Thirsty?" I croaked. I did not like the sound of that. Didn't vampires drink blood? "But I don't want to kill anyone!" I practically yelled, not at Matthiew, but against the burning in my throat. He flinched away from me and for a second looked apologetic before he relaxed. "Don't worry, you don't have to kill any humans, we are going to go hunt for animals". I thought about that for a second, I liked the sound of that. "Ok" I said nodding and walking towards the door. He followed me out, walked ahead of me a ways and then turned to look back at me "Follow me" he said. And he was off. Zooming away from me.

I started running to keep up when I found myself practically flying through the trees and bushes. My feet were barely touching the ground as I ran noiselessly behind Matthiew, easily keeping speed with him. The trees looked like they should be just a blur but I was able to see everything down to each individual vein on the leaves and each follicle of every feather on the birds as if I was standing still, concentrating on them, not running past them at impossible speeds.

We ran like this for a while until he abruptly stopped. I hopped to a stand still beside him and looked at him, waiting for him to say what we were going to do next. He seemed to be studying our surroundings, checking for something. Finally, he looked at me, satisfied after a bit. "Here is where we are going to hunt" he told me. "What should I do?" I asked in response, curious at how this would work. "It's surprisingly easy actually" he said, suddenly behind me with his hands on my shoulders. "Close your eyes, and listen to your surroundings. what do you hear?" I closed my eyes, letting my ears soak up the sounds of the forest. "I hear a river to the left, a bird calling up ahead, you breathing behind me, rustling in the bushes around us, and an odd thumping noise to the right." I said summarizing the sounds I heard. "That thumping is a heart. Try and smell it" I held back a laugh at how absurd it sounded but obeyed, sniffing the air, tasting it, smelling for what was making that thumping noise, and I caught sent of a delicious and enticing smell.

Before I knew what I was doing, I had taken off towards the smell, crouching lower and lower, ready to attack my prey. I was not thinking, following my instincts instead. There, lounging on a low branch was a lynx. I crouched down even lower and sprang on the unsuspecting animal. I bit into its neck and my teeth sank in like I was bighting peanut butter. I sucked the blood out of the thrashing animal, slowly at first, then faster and faster, trying to quench my thirst, until the animal first stopped fighting and fell limp, then until it was completely drained of blood. I looked at the drained body of the animal and realized that there was no way I should have been able to attack it, yet I had been able to take it down without even trying. Puzzled, I looked for Matthiew to ask him how that worked. I found him crouching with his back to me a ways away, just finishing up his own meal of what looked to be a panther.

He stood up, straightening his shirt which was somehow still clean. I looked at my sun dress and saw that it was completely drenched in blood. I sighed, "How did I do that? Can we go back and get a change of clothes?" I asked. Not wanting to be stuck in this for the rest of the day..

I was full already, my little body being easily over satisfied by the lynx. "Um no, because I don't want you around humans, yet. They smell too good and you might accidentally kill one" he replied apologetically, "But I know a family of vampires that currently live in the state above us that I have been thinking about going to see if I can join for a while now. They have a female there that is about your size and you could probably borrow some of her clothes." I thought about that a bit "Ok, lets go, I would like to meet some other ones like us" I said, not quite comfortable saying the word vampire. But then I thought of something "Wait, do they kill people? I don't want to go if they kill people" I said, shivering at the thought of living with things that killed innocent humans. "No they don't, in fact, the head of their family was one of the first vampires to eat animals instead of people, I got the idea from him" Matthiew explained, almost proudly. "Well then, what are we waiting for!" I asked, starting to run in what I thought was north, practically singing with excitement.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4:

Highly Evolved

We ran all day, frequently stopping to hunt so I would never be less than full. Matthew had said that the family we where going to visit lived in a town amongst humans, and he wanted me as full as possible. I agreed that the last thing I wanted was for me to be thirsty around humans if they smell as good as he seemed to think they did, but I was constantly so full that I couldn't run as fast as I wanted to and we were going far out of our way to avoid running into any humans, taking us longer than it should to arrive in Washington.

While we were running, Matthiew told me how he became a vampire. He had been visiting Alaska in the summer of 1946 with his dad who was studying the Inuit tribes there for a book he had been working on about human evolution. His dad had traveled all over the world studying the physical attributes and cultures of a whole bunch of different peoples around the globe. Matthiew had graduated early to travel with his father while his mom stayed at home taking care of his little sisters Anne and Clara.

"One day on his way home from an interview, he met up with what he called the most highly evolved form of human he had ever seen" Matthiew said, sneering at the words. "He and this new found form of human had set up a time for an interview the next day and he insisted that I come along to see it for myself, and that he wanted a witness because this fantastical creature was so highly evolved that it seem almost inhuman." He took a break from his story to grab a bight to eat.

"Of course, I was excited about his new find so I agreed to go with him." he said once we were running again. "He kept trying to describe what made this person so special but he kept stopping and starting over again, then finally giving up and saying 'I'm not describing her right' I remember exactly what he said. This day is my clearest human memory" he chuckled darkly to himself. "I finally got to see her and the first thing I noticed where her eyes." he stopped talking and gave me some privacy so I could wash my clothes off in a stream we passed. I was getting better at the whole hunting thing, not making near as big a mess as I had at first.

"They were the weirdest color of purple, they didn't look natural. She was really pale, with purple circles under her eyes. She had a big mass of frizzy, curly, fiery red hair and she was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen.... until now of course", he looked over at me and smiled. I smiled back filling with indescribable pleasure at his words. "She said her name was Victoria and she talked with dad for a while. She said that she had come from a long, long line of people like her. As they had been talking, I had been watching her eyes turn less and less purple, and more red. It was creepy" he grimaced at the memory.

"Finally, trying to figure out what was so different about her family and the rest of humanity, dad asked her about her diet." Matthiew continued, his tone getting darker and darker until he was practically growling by the end. "At that she had smiled and offered to show us exactly what she ate. I had begun to shy away from her, my natural instincts kicking in, though she had seemed nice enough, for some reason I didn't trust her, I didn't feel safe. But dad didn't feel the same way, he said ok and she lunged for him. I screamed and tried to fight her off but she just threw me against the wall with a flick of her wrist and continued to suck the life out of him. Then she started on me.

"Before she could kill me though, people who must have heard my screaming started to break down the door too the room we had been in. She escaped through the window and I hid in the little closet on the other side of the room. I did everything I could to not scream until the burning stopped. When it did, I accidentally broke the door down trying to stand up. I didn't understand what was going on so I ran. I ran out the door and smelled human blood for the first time.

"The smell stopped me dead in my tracks. It was the most mouthwatering smell I have ever come close to smelling. When I realized what it was, I forced myself to continue running only I couldn't understand because it felt like I was flying." He got a far away look in his eyes like he was remembering the feeling. "Anyway, I ran until I was out of town and kept running until I was completely and utterly lost in the wilderness. I kept running, albeit a little slower, trying to figure out where I was.

"That was when I came upon Carlisle, Esme, Emmet, Rosalie, Alice, Jasper, and Edward while they where hunting. At first I thought they where humans and I started to run in the other direction, but I quickly realized that they couldn't have been since they smelled different. Not bad, but not mouthwatering like humans did. So I went up to them to ask them what was going on. As soon as they saw me, Emmet, Jasper, and Edward were right behind Carlisle, flanking him and shielding Esme, Rosalie, and Alice from my view. Carlisle slowly stepped forward with the rest of the family in sync.

"All that is except for Alice, who broke through the males and, throwing a meaningful glance at Edward and Jasper, danced up to me smiling, she couldn't have been much taller than you, 'Hello there Matthiew' she had said. I was shocked that she knew my name and I was scared by the growling coming from Jasper, you see, he is her husband and he feels very protective of her and saw me as a threat to her, but I didn't find that out until later.

"She looked at Edward, and nodding he whispered something to Jasper that made him stop growling at me. 'Um excuse me for interrupting, but I smelled that you weren't human and you remind me a lot of the thing that killed dad and bit me, I was wondering what you where and if you knew what has happened.' I asked them, feeling like an idiot. Then I heard Esme speak for the first time 'You poor dear! Have you drank yet?' I shook my head confused, not sure what she was talking about 'Well we were just finishing up here, but I'm sure Emmet and Rosalie will help you hunt.' Emmet and Rosalie hissed quietly at the thought but Edward said something to them that made them shut up.

"They explained to me how to hunt and after I had a few dear and a panther, Emmet and Rosalie took me inside were every one explained to me that the girl who had bitten me was a vampire, like them but different in that she drank human blood while they drank animal blood. They had asked Edward if she in fact was a vampire and he looked at me in a strange way, I was picturing the woman who had bitten me and he said yes. I was just about to ask how he knew but before I could open my mouth to, he answered my unasked question. 'I can read minds' he said 'and I could see from the picture in your mind that she was a vampire and that she drank human blood because of her eyes, they where red.' I wasn't sure if I could believe him though until he said 'Yes I can read your mind, you where just thinking that you didn't quite believe me' Emmet chuckled at that and Rosalie rolled her eyes. Embarrassed, I turned away to look at Alice who had a far away look in her eyes. She suddenly shook her head and looked at me. 'You will be staying with us for a bit but after a month or so, you will leave' I was utterly confused until I was told that she could see the future and that Jasper could change the moods of those who where around him.

"That was the first time I got a vision about anyone. This one was of little Alice. She was talking with what then looked like her twin but I now know is you. She was holding your hand and introducing you to her family, only there were three extra people there in my vision though, one was about the same age as Edward with long brown hair, and one who was bigger than Emmet and extremely tan compared to the rest who was holding a little child that looked to be about five years old."

"I've had a vision kinda like that! Except that the little child and the one holding the child weren't there, and my great aunt was there also." I exclaimed in surprise. "And you were with me" I amended. We ran for a while longer until we reached a large house that, from this side looked like it was made almost entirely out of glass.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5:

The Cullen's and Me.

We walked around front of the house and I saw that it was not entirely made of glass but it looked more like one of those historical houses that had been renovated. I followed behind Matthiew as he went up to the doorstep, suddenly afraid that the family there would dislike me. Before he could knock on the door, a high pitched squeal came from inside the house. "Matthiew and Claire!" a beautiful and very feminine voice shouted. I looked up at him, I hadn't known they where expecting us. "Alice" was all Matthiew gave as an answer. "Hello Alice, I see you saw us coming too. Now can we come in?" Matthiew spoke through the door. "Of course you can come in" said another female voice.

First Matthiew stepped in and right as I was about to step in he stopped dead in his tracks. "What is that?" he asked warily, "And who is that holding it?" he asked wrinkling his nose as if he smelled something bad. "This is not what it looks like" said another female voice. "This is our daughter, she is not an immortal child-" "I know that, I saw her in my vision, I meant why does she have a heart beat? And who are you holding her and why do you have a heart beat?"

Then I understood, there must be humans here and Matthiew didn't want me too close. But I didn't smell anything mouthwatering, I smelled one thing that was kind of like what Matthiew and the other vampires smelled like, just a bit different, and there was one that reeked with a bitter smell that made my nose tingle. "I don't smell anything good enough to eat" I whispered to Matthiew. He nodded but then the one with bronze hair blocked my path. "Excuse me, I don't want to be rude, and I know that you have no intention of drinking either one of them but I would feel better if maybe Nessie and Jacob could go into the kitchen, its about lunch time anyway. Just in case"

I nodded though I felt a bit insulted that no one thought I would be able to control myself. I got quiet, worrying I would be nothing of a nuisance and a problem. Matthiew seemed to grasp the change in my mood. He gave a questioning look towards Mr. bronze hair who nodded, then turned to Mr. dirty blond hair. I Suddenly felt a wave of appreciation and happiness flood me, and I couldn't help but smile as I remembered what Matthiew had told me about Jasper being able to control others emotions and Edward being able to read minds. Mr. bronze hair must be Edward and Mr. dirty blond hair must be Jasper. I looked over at Edward and he nodded. Ok, the one about my hight with spiky hair must be Alice... wait... no that was my great aunt... then my vision began to blur around the edges. Suddenly it seemed that instead of standing there in the doorway, I was sitting on the couch beside my great aunt Mary Alice, with others surrounding her and Matthiew behind me like in my dream before, only this time, I saw all their faces clearly and I knew their names.

The one who had looked like a bear was Emmet, the one who had been kind of tall -whats the word... statuesque there we go- was Rosalie, the one with light blond hair was Carlisle, the one with dirty blond hair was Jasper, the one with bronze hair was Edward, and this time there where two with long brown hair, one had lighter brown hair that gently waved down to her upper back, this one was Esme, and the one with longer, darker brown hair from my previous dream was named Bella. Oh and my aunt Mary Alice was Alice... how could that be? She had died when grandma was still a kid! I was feeling confused in my vision but Alice was telling me about the Cullens so I was waiting sure I would understand.

Somewhere someone cleared their throat, and my vision slowly faded away until I was again standing in the doorway of the Cullen house though Matthiew was not blocking my way anymore. I was stunned and it took me a moment to get my bearings before I continued in. I quickly realized that it must have been another vision but unlike when I was human, now it was more realistic and detailed. Now it felt like I was really there, not like I was watching it in a movie. Edward chuckled as I walked over to where I had been sitting in the vision.

I glanced back at Alice. She had a look on her face that reminded me of someone day dreaming, like she was looking at something invisible that was both right in front of her face and far away at the same time. Looking straight at her, head on gave me the strangest sensation, as if I was looking in a fun house mirror. Her face looked a lot like my face only it was perfect and beautiful while mine was very normal and plain. It was so weird a sensation that I had to look away.

I watched Matthiew talking to everyone. Telling them about what he had been doing since they had last seen him. Apparently he had been traveling the world finishing the book his dad had been working on and he had just recently got it published. He told them the title and Carlisle walked over to the bookshelf laughing, and grabbed a book that looked like an encyclopedia, holding it up for Matthiew to see. It was his book and he started laughing, launching into a discussion about it with Carlisle. Apparently he had studied his fathers theory about vampires being the next form of evolution for humans. After a while I got bored and started scanning the room looking at the faces around me.

First I looked to Esme. The only way I could describe Esme was motherly. Motherly love and care almost seemed to radiate from her. Emmet made me think of an overgrown twelve year old. Rosalie was gorgeous, absolutely stunning, but she seemed annoyed. Bella looked equally as beautiful as everyone else, yet she also seemed to look like the every day girl who lived just down the street. You know, the one who was always there but you never really noticed. Edward looked... in love. That was the only way to describe him. He was extremely handsome, and he reminded me of one of my friends brothers in that he seemed like he was always just starting to relax after a long time of being uncomfortable... yet completely at ease. Carlisle reminded me of a pediatric psychologist that had seen me after one of my first visions, constantly studying every move I made yet not intruding on my privacy at all. Jasper looked... emotional. He looked like he was about to cry, growl, scream, laugh, strike up a conversation, and run away all at the same time. Matthiew looked like he was about to start dancing. I think he was extremely happy to be back with the Cullens. I looked back at Alice. She was staring at me in what looked to be both confusion and surprise.

For the rest of the day and night, Edward, Emmet, Rosalie, Carlisle, Esme, and Matthiew shared stories about their histories, and what had happened since Matthiew had left.. It was fascinating, it was hard to believe that Carlisle was over three hundred years old. I was still trying to grasp how people so clearly under thirty could be so old. And I felt so sorry for Esme, and Rosalie, what terrible stories, it was unbelievable. After listening for a while I started wondering if I would be 17 for ever. Then I looked down at my myself.

I was still wearing the same clothing, and though I had rinsed them out in rivers along the way, the blood had stained, only now it looked like really bad tie-dye. I needed a change of clothes but I didn't want to ask and sound pushy... oh well I could stand to wear them for a while longer... I want to talk to Alice anyway. "Hey Alice, do you think you have something that Claire here could change into?" Edward asked casually. Oh right, he could read my mind. Oops... Thank you, I thought at him. He nodded and smiled a bit. "Um sure, come with me Claire" Alice said sounding dazed and uncertain. She stood up and walked, though it looked more like dancing, towards the stairs.

Once in her room she went straight to a door that led to a closet that was bigger than the room itself. She walked in and was back out in a second, holding what looked to be a designer top and jeans. I thanked her and changed. Once I was done, she turned on me. "Who are you?" she asked, not with hostility but with disbelief. "Well my full name is Mary Claire, but I go by Claire." I hedged. Was Alice really who I thought she was? And if so would she be angry if I told her who I was? "Where did you get your name?" She demanded softly, sensing my hesitation. I sighed I guess she would find out at some point, why not now. "I was named after my great aunt Mary Alice who I had thought had died when my grandmother, Cynthia was a child..." I trailed off because she looked like she was about to scream and laugh at the same time. Not the reaction I suspected.

"No way" she said. "No way, I cant believe it. What are the odds. Are you serious?!" her voice had risen from a whisper to a shriek that was two octaves higher than should be possible. I finally gave in, my curiosity getting the best of me "I thought you where dead!" I stated. After her shriek, my conversational level sounded like a whisper. "I've been putting flowers on your grave once a month since I was eight!" I said laughing, but as I said that I remembered my vision of my parents having a grave made for me the day I had been placed in the home and sobered "Well I guess having a grave doesn't mean much" I mumbled.

Alice stopped dancing around the room and looked at me. "What do you mean?" she asked. "Well I had seen that my parents were going to have a grave made for me the day they put me in the home" I mumbled trying not to cry. My little grave felt petty next to what had happened to Esme. But thinking about it opened up the flood gates. Suddenly Alice was sitting beside me on the bed, hugging me, it vaguely reminded me of my earliest vision of where I had thought I had been hugging my twin. "Tell me everything, from the beginning" she whispered to me.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6:

Mirrored

"Well, I have always had these visions for as long as I can remember" I said, my voice coming out as a whisper "At first I acted upon them. Trying to stop them from happening when they where bad and doing what I could to further them along when they where good. But that just ended up putting me in psychiatrists offices. You see, Mom and dad had always kept a sharp eye on me because grandma Cynthia had shown them pictures of you and they had noticed from the start how much I resembled you. But once they realized what was going on, that I was having visions like you had, they became worried.

"My dad is your sister's son and she had told him many times throughout my childhood about how you had gotten visions like I did then ended up dying at the doctors office randomly one day. Dad decided that we where both mentally unstable and mom thought that you had peen possessed by a demon that after killing you you, had waited until I was born and possessed me. They must have finally given up on me because a few days ago, they took me to a children's home.

"After they left, Matthiew came into my room, introduced himself, and sat with me for a while. That night he told me that he was going to get me out. He bit me and took me to some old barn out of town where we stayed while I was transforming. He later explained that he has powers like ours, only he has to have a bond with the person whose future he sees, and he has to work to see their future. He had seen that the doctors at the home where going to experiment on me and accidentally kill me in the process so he saved me. After he showed me how to hunt we came here, and I guess you know the rest."

Alice looked at me thoughtfully for a while before she said "That is really weird, the same basic thing happened to me. You see, unlike you and everyone else, I don't have any human memories. My earliest memory is of waking up in an old cabin and having a vision of meeting Jasper and going to live with the Cullens, but a few years ago, I found out what happened because that was when Edward met Bella." She paused, seeming to decide whether or not to tell me something. "I will let them tell you the rest of their story, but at one point, early on in their relationship, a vampire tracker named James decided to track Bella. This was while she was still human. When he had her trapped, he decided that it had been too easy, so he was going to make a video of her death to send to Edward so he would come after him to get revenge. During this video, he told her about me.

"Apparently he had caught my sent the day my parents had put me in the institution and had begun to track me when a vampire that worked at the institution who had taken a liking to me, turned me into a vampire before James could get to me. James said that he had killed the vampire in revenge for saving me.

"Once I had found this out, I did some research. I found the institution I had gone to. After looking through the papers there, I found the date I had been admitted and the day I had gone missing, they where one day apart. I then found my grave, it had the same date on it as the admission form. Beside my grave, I found my moms, dads, and sisters graves. I looked up my sister, and learned that she had children that where still alive and well. So from that I pieced together my human life." she said. "It's amazing how similar our stories are don't you think?" she asked. I wasn't sure if it was a rhetorical question or not, so I waited. When she looked at me expectantly, I answered. "Yes, it definitely is weird, but I have to say, no offense or anything but I'm glad that I wasn't being tracked by a vampire" she laughed and agreed that a tracker was definitely the worse of the two ways to die.

"Well, if Edward hasn't been listening in on our conversation and told everyone already, we probably should go tell the rest about our little find." she said once we where done laughing. I agreed and started to walk to the door. I got an idea and stopped. "hold on a sec", I concentrated very hard, not sure how to do it, but sure enough, my vision blurred around the edges after a bit and suddenly I was sitting downstairs, surrounded by the Matthiew and the rest of the Cullens, while Alice and I together where telling them about our conversation. "No he hasn't told anyone about our conversation," I said, as I waited for my vision to come back.

Once I was back in Alice's room, I continued "He must be waiting for us to tell everyone ourselves." I smiled proud of myself. I looked at Alice and found her staring at me. "You know," she said slowly, "I have never seen what I look like when I have a vision, I have to say, it looks really weird, like you are spacing out" "No wonder people thought we where crazy!" I commented, earning a giggle from Alice as she put my clothes into a small washing machine I hadn't noticed before. "You have your own washing machine?" I asked. "Yep. And dryer." she said, proud. "Why? I mean as far as I know, normally there is one washing machine per household..." "Well, you see, I have so many clothes that I need my own washing machine and dryer. They where presents from Esme and Carlisle last year. I think that they where doing it more for everyone else than for me but I still love having my own set right here in my room." "Wow, thats smart. I wish my parents had thought of that" "You like clothes too?" Alice said obviously excited. My vision suddenly began to blur around the edges, but before the vision completely took over my sight I saw Alice get a far away look on her face.

Then suddenly I was at the mall with Alice. We where going through the racks and shelves, picking out tons of different pieces of clothing. When I was back in Alice's room, I looked at her and she looked at me "SHOPPING SPREE!" we both shrieked together. Laughing, we went downstairs our arms linked like we had been friends for life.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7:

Mythical

Once we where downstairs, we took turns telling everyone about our discovery. Everyone was absolutely stunned except for Edward who, it turned out, had been listening to our conversation, and Carlisle who had wandered over to a huge bookshelf at the other side of the room and had been reading through some random books since we had started talking. Edward explained that Carlisle was surprised that Alice's talent had been passed down through three generations and he was trying to figure out the likely hood of that happening.

The a few days later, Bella, Edward and Renesmee walked in from their little cabin that was out in the woods, and mentioned that Renesmee had asked if she could meet Matthiew and me. You see, the whole time we had been there, when Renesmee was in the house, Jacob was with her in any room other than the one I was in. Everyone looked at me.

"I had smelled both her and Jacob when I was standing in the doorway, and neither of them smelled appetizing in any way, Renesmee smelled pretty much like us and Jacob reeked." I offered. I had been wanting to meet Renesmee since I had first seen her. How could two vampires have any kids together especially human ones. Everyone laughed at that and I heard a "Hmph" from the kitchen. "I trust her, and anyway, if it gets to be too much, we can just take Nessie away" Jasper said. "WHAT?!?!" an enraged Jacob roared from the kitchen, "But she's a vampire!!" "Uh, Jacob, we all are" Bella said, clearly annoyed. "Yeah but she's a real one! One that drinks human blood! I've already had to put up with that kind of leaches around Nessie once before, and I'm not going to put up with it again!" What? I had never tasted human blood in my life! And I never, ever want to! Why on earth would he think that I had! "No Jacob, she hasn't, she, is a new born, don't you remember when Bella was a new born? It's natural for their eyes to be red" Edward countered.

I was extremely confused, my eyes weren't red. They where actually more blue than green last time I checked. "Well aren't newborns supposed to not have any control?!" Now I was even more confused. I felt a bit substandard, that I wasn't good enough to meet this Nessie, until I felt another wave of confidence and appreciation from Jasper. I smiled at him and he smiled back.

That was when I noticed Matthiew wasn't there. I got scared. Where was Matthiew! I needed him! "Wheres Matthiew?" I asked, trying to keep the tremor out of my voice. I felt like crying. I had forgotten all about Renesmee. "I'm right here honey" Answered his voice as he appeared right behind me. I felt him breathing into my hair. I turned around and hugged him. "Where did you go?" "I'll tell you later, but right now I want to see you meet Renesmee" he said giving me a squeeze and untangling himself from me. "Ok" I said puzzled, hadn't he been the one who had overdone the hunting and staying away from humans? And now he was wanting me to hold one? "Well Nessie isn't exactly human..." Edward said, his sentence trailing off. "Shes not? Then what is she?" I asked. "I'll let Nessie explain, she's asking me not to tell you." Edward whispered as we heard a commotion from the other room. "Lemme go Jacob!" Renesmee squealed "I wanna meet Claire!" "Fine, then. But I'm not letting you out of my sight around around her got it?" Jacob snarled. "Okie-dokie" she sang in response.

Jacob walked out of the kitchen holding her and glaring at me, his glare turning into an incredulous expression as he walked closer. "Whoa, are you two twins or something?" he asked looking back and forth between Alice and me. Instead of answering him, my jaw dropped. I realized that I must have not gotten near as good a look at him before as I thought I had. He was HUGE! He towered over Emmet, making him look almost as small as me! He didn't look like a bear though, he wasn't burly, but he wasn't a bean pole either. He reminded me of a wolf for some reason I couldn't put a finger on. Edward chuckled. Oh, I keep forgetting he reads minds. 'well he does' I thought at him, a bit annoyed.

Renesmee freed herself from Jacob as Alice explained our likeness. She ran the first half and then stopped running and walked slowly up to me, trying not to startle me. "Hello Claire." she whispered, her voice angelic. "Hello Renesmee, or should I call you Nessie?" I asked her. I was surprised, this was the first time I had gotten a good look at her. The upper half of her face looked almost exactly like Edward but the lower half looked identical to Bella. She had brown/bronze hair that fell in little ringlets around her face. She was the most beautiful five year old I had ever seen. "Well she's not exactly five-" Edward began but was silenced by a look from Renesmee. "Shush daddy! I wanna tell her!" She said, her voice surprisingly fierce. Then turning back to me she said "You can call me Nessie, everybody else does. Daddy can I show her now?" "Yes, if it's ok with Claire." Nessie looked at me and I nodded, a bit confused. She smiled as she climbed up beside me on the couch I had been sitting on and proceeded to place her hand on my cheek.

Suddenly I wasn't looking at Nessie on the couch but I was looking at a human who reminded me of Bella. "This is mommy before she became a vampire" Nessie told me. I heard Bella sigh, apparently she didn't like this Image. Then the picture changed to that of Rosalie showing what looked like a one year old version of Nessie her reflection in a mirror. "Auntie rose showing me what I looked like when I was a month old." I opened my mouth to ask her about that but she stopped me saying "Hold on, let me finish". At that Rosalie chuckled. Next was Nessie on Bella's back looking over her shoulder at a group of vampires wearing long dark cloaks I heard them talking with Edward and Carlisle. Edward and Carlisle where explaining how Nessie was a human, vampire hybrid not something called an immortal child. On either side of Bella and Nessie, was a long line of what looked to be more vampires. "These are friends of the family helping us talk with the volturi, and this is the other hybrid that auntie Alice found" Nessie said as I saw a dark skinned, beautiful man walking into the clearing everyone was standing in. Again the picture changed as Bella, with red eyes, launched herself at Jacob who was cowering away from her. Then out of the blue a guy who I had barely noticed standing beside Jacob suddenly shook and leaped into the air, colliding with Bella and blocking her from reaching Jacob, and landing not as a human but as a gigantic wolf. Shocked I jerked my head away from her hand. "What was that!?!" I asked. Jacob was shaking like the boy had before he turned into the wolf, Bella looked like she was about to grab Renesmee out of my reach if I made any more sudden movements, Matthiew looked worried and scared, and Edward looked like he was about to crack up. "I think you have shown Claire enough for one day Nessie." Edward said. Nessie stuck out her bottom lip as Bella picked her up and handed her to Jacob. "Edward, did you see what she showed me? What was that?" "That was a member of Jacob's pack. Jacob, you can explain better than I can, would you mind?" Edward said, redirecting the conversation to Jacob, looking like he was enjoying this a bit too much. He smirked and Bella rolled her eyes.

"Sure" Jacob answered smiling. He seemed to be a lot calmer than before, now that he had Nessie back in his arms again. He looked proud as he explained what Nessie had shown me. "Well, as you hopefully have figured out, vampires exist, but there are other 'mythical' creatures as well. You ever hear of werewolves?" he asked, his voice growing more husky as he continued. A shiver ran down my spine as I nodded. I felt silly, werewolves weren't real, yet I knew that every word he was saying was true.

"I am a member of the Quileute tribe that lives on the La Push reservation just outside of Forks. We descended from wolves, as our legends go and vampires supposedly descended from an enemy clan, making us natural enemies. To protect our tribe from vampires, the teens of the tribe become werewolves when they come of age. We can phase from human form to wolf form depending on the situation, and as long as we continue to phase, we never get old, we are immortal." I was stunned to silence for a while before I was able to ask my first question. "If your tribe doesn't like vampires then what are you doing in a house full of them?" It didn't really matter, I was more interested in possibly seeing him phase into a wolf, but the expression that crossed Edwards face when I thought that stopped me from asking.

"Thats a good question..." Jacob seemed to be stalling, avoiding my question. He looked at Edward and Edward nodded. "There is something else we can do once we start phasing. It's called imprinting. We don't have control over it, but the first time we see our imprinted after our first phase, we go through an indescribable feeling. We become anything they would ever need. And they feel the same way about us. I didn't know that a werewolf could imprint on a vampire, or hybrid for that matter but some how I imprinted on this little rascal here" His voice rang with love and awe when he mentioned Nessie.

I didn't know whether to be disgusted at the thought of Nessie and Jacob together, or elated that they could both be so happy. "No, no its not like that!" Jacob explained, he must have seen my emotions on my face. Edward chuckled. "I don't love her like that. Not now. Remember I said that we become anything the imprinted needs? Well I didn't just mean that we would be perfect for each other, I am her playmate and babysitter for now. I don't love her in any other way than that. When she gets older, I will probably be her best friend and confidant. Then as she gets to be my age and stops growing, our love for each other will change yet again" "Oh, well thats cool." I didn't know what else to say, what kind of sentiment would one give an imprinted couple? Congratulations? Good luck? Edward burst out laughing at that. "Wow Claire, you and Alice are definitely two of a kind." I took it as a compliment and hoped that Alice wouldn't be too insulted. But when I looked over at her, she was smiling.

The next morning, when Carlisle got back from his shift at the hospital he called us all into the living room and got everyones attention. "Hey everyone. Claire? Can you and Matthiew come outside for a second please?" Carlisle's tone was indifferent, almost uninterested, but the way he looked at me made me feel like a science experiment. Alice growled a bit. "Don't worry Alice, nothing bad will happen to Claire. We are just going to test something out for a bit." he said trying to sooth Alice. Then he turned to the rest of the room as Matthiew and I walked outside, "Edward will explain whats going on." Carlisle said over his shoulder. As he turned back to me, eyes danced with excitement


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8:

Un-Appetizers

Once outside, Carlisle lead the way to his car. I looked up at Matthiew and he seemed bewildered, anxious, amused, and like he was about to burst with excitement. He knew what was going on. "Matthiew? Where are we going? Whats going on?" I asked, almost worried. When he turned his eyes on me I forgot my worry, instead I felt like I was about to melt. I had never felt anything like it. There could only be one thing that could make me feel like this, love. "Well remember when I had stepped out for a bit yesterday?" I nodded. "Well I had a vision about you. I took Carlisle outside and told him about it. He and I discussed it and now we are going to test it." Even though I was paying attention to what he was saying, and I was seriously interested in what was going on. His words barely made it through my brain. I wanted to kiss him so badly that it took all my focus not to..

"We're here" Carlisle said in a sing song voice. I looked around. We where in town. Well one could hardly call it that. It was tiny! Wait. In a town. With humans! Had they gone crazy?!?! I looked out the window and saw a couple guys that looked to be about my age walking by. I turned my anxious eyes up to look at Matthiew. He understood the reason for my expression immediately. "This is the place where I my vision happened" he began in a comforting tone. "In my vision, you where standing here today with many humans walking by. And you didn't seem to think their smell very enticing. When I told Carlisle about this, he thought about it and decided to see what would happen. And don't worry, if the smell is too much for you, we will be able to restrain you. I nodded helplessly, he was looking me in the eyes and I couldn't look away or think. It was a good thing I didn't need to breath. I just realized that I had been holding my breath the whole car ride. I let it go and looked away before the urge to embrace him could take over.

I stepped slowly out of the car holding my breath just in case. We walked to the corner Matthiew had seen us at. "It's ok, breathe" Matthiew said from behind me, I could feel his powerful hold on my shoulders and I took a deep breath in. I smelled them alright. The smell of human was overwhelming. But it wasn't overwhelming in a hunger kind of way. Yes it did smell a little like the bears I had eaten on the way here but the bears smelled more appetizing than the humans did. I looked up at Matthiew who looked like he was about to start freaking out. " I think I prefer lynx" I told him.

He on the other hand looked like he was about to attack a guy on the side walk. I looked at his eyes, and they where black as pitch. I didn't know how though, weren't they just a topaz earlier today? I didn't have time to contemplate it though as I saw him shift into a crouch. I blocked his path and made him look me in the eyes. "Matthiew no" I said, my voice showing all the fear I felt, not only for the man at the corner but I couldn't let Matthiew drink him, he wouldn't be able to forgive himself later. And I just couldn't handle that. "Lets get back in the car. Carlisle! A little help here!" I was holding Matthiew down as I watched him trying to gain control. It was scary, his eyes where livid with an odd excitement, anger, worry, and sadness. Once we where back in the car and Matthiew had control of himself again, he finally spoke. His voice was so quiet I could barely hear him, even with my level of hearing. His voice practically dripping with self loathing.

"I'm sorry Claire, I don't know what happened. I guess I was just so focused on making sure that you weren't about to kill anyone that I forgot to keep myself under control. No there is no excuse for what I did out there. I cant believe I was about to kill that poor man. I'm so sorry Claire. You must think I'm terrible, that I cant even control my self as well as you, a new born. I'm so sorry" at first I was stunned. I felt nothing but sympathy for my Matthiew, I like the sound of that... my Matthiew...

"No no no Matthiew its fine. I understand completely, I know that you didn't mean to and I saw how hard you where trying to get control of yourself. I don't blame you and I'm sure Carlisle doesn't either" I said that, trying to bring Carlisle back in the conversation for he hadn't said a word the whole time. " Claire is right Matthiew, you are still relatively young, even Jasper who has been abstaining longer than you have been alive still has trouble controlling himself. Don't feel bad, its natural." Carlisle's words seemed to help Matthiew a little. I decided to take his mind off the whole thing. Besides I wanted to ask Matthiew something.

"Hey Matthiew? I have a question about the day you saved me." I began, trying to find the right words to ask it. He looked down at me and I leaned into him just like I had at the home. "Why did you save me?" my question seemed to catch him off guard. "Because you where about to die" he said, looking at me with a mixture of worry and confusion. I realized that he thought I might not like being a vampire and that I thought it was a mistake. "No don't get me wrong. I will be forever thankful for you to have saved me, I was just wondering why you wanted to save me, instead of, say, another person at the home or something" I almost started crying at the thought of Matthiew not choosing me. Of never seeing Matthiew again. At least I would have been dead and not able to think about it. I had never known that love could happen this quickly. I had thought that it took a long time for people to fall in love. But her I was already madly in love with my Matthiew.

"Well," he said seeming to understand my hidden question, "When I first came up to your room, and saw you, I immediately had a vision of us together. Happy. And that vision showed me that you where the one I had been looking for, I hadn't realized I was looking for anything until I sat with you on the couch and realized that I had found it" he had been looking out the window when he had started talking. By the time he was done he was looking at me. I snuggled in closer and he wrapped his arms around me. "I love you" whispered into his chest "You are the most wonderful thing that has ever happened to me. I love you too" he whispered into my hair. By this time, thanks to the Cullen's crazy driving, we where already back at the Cullen's.

"They're back they're back they're back!" Nessie sang as we walked in. "How did ya do?" Emmet asked. It was the first time he had said anything since I had been here, and his voice matched his body, it just made him that more intimidating. I resisted the urge to hide behind Matthiew. " She prefers lynx" Carlisle answered, though he seemed to be talking more to himself than to anyone else. "Is that even possible?" "Way to go!" "Seriously?!" "No fair!" "Thats wonderful!" "Amazing!" "Hah told you!" "Lucky!" Everyone started talking and exclaiming at once. I didn't quite understand what was so big about this. "Man, this is unbelievable! How can she even be a real vampire if she doesn't like human blood! Something must be wrong with her. I mean she doesn't even look right" Rosalie was stage whispering to Emmet.

That remark hit home. I had been having my suspicions about me being a normal vampire and this proved it. Of course it would make sense that I'm not even a vampire at all. I know what she means about the not looking like a vampire at least. I mean, I look hideous compared to everyone here, I thought. Remembering the last time I had looked in the mirror.

I couldn't stand it any more. I just turned and ran. I didn't think anyone noticed, they where all to wrapped up in their conversations about my preferences. I ran alone for a while. Or at least I thought I was alone... I heard a little rustling on both sides just behind me. I looked back and there on my right was Alice and on my left was Matthiew.

"And just where do you think you are going little niece?" Alice asked with a teasing smile. Matthiew just looked sad and worried not saying anything but reaching out for my hand. I grabbed it and jumped into his arms. He caught me without breaking stride. "Whats wrong Claire?" Alice asked once we had stopped. " Rosalie is right... I cant be a vampire... I don't thirst for human blood... I don't look like the rest of you... I have the same power as you have Alice, not my own..." I said between sobs.

"Oh don't listen to Rosalie, she is just jealous that you are above and beyond the rest of us." Alice said. I let her words comfort me. " And Rosalie only said what she said about your looks because she thinks you look better than her." she continued. I was shocked. Better than Rosalie? Thats impossible. Alice must have seen the skepticism on my face. " You have a very odd look Claire, I guess it does kinda look like me but its all your own, seriously, and in your own way, you do look more beautiful than Rose, don't tell her I said that though ... wait... have you seen yourself since you became a vampire?" Alice asked suddenly. "Um no..." I said confused. "Well then come on! She said running back towards the house.

Matthiew began to put me down but I clung to him, I didn't want to be put down. This was where I felt whole, in his arms. He chuckled that wonderful chuckle that again surprised me by how much it rang. I wouldn't have been surprised if those at the house hadn't heard it even though it was not even a full laugh. While we where running, Matthiew asked me something. "Hey Claire? Esme was talking to me before you took off, she... well she invited us to move in with them, she wanted to add another section to the house, one for us, she showed me the primitive plans she had already started working on. It would have two bedrooms that where joined together and a small living space that was also connected to both. I was wondering if you wanted to move in with me and become part of the Cullen family?" He looked like a little boy asking for something he knew he wouldn't get. "Oh Matthiew that would be amazing! I would love to!" I said almost crying. I didn't know how to describe the feeling I felt. Being able to live with Matthiew, my Matthiew...

"On one condition though" I worked hard to keep the teasing out of my voice. His face suddenly became worried "What?" "Will you marry me?" I couldn't believe I was asking him this. What if he said no?! What if he didn't feel the same or as much for me as I did for him? I'm not sure I could take that... "Of course I will! I love you so much Claire! I was afraid to ask you because I didn't know if you loved me the same as I love you"

The rest of the way back was spent planing our wedding so by the time we arrived, I had forgotten all about seeing myself in the mirror.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9:

Studies

The person in the mirror was hardly recognizable. At first I didn't even think it was me. I looked almost exactly like Alice. But my lips where fuller, and my eyes where more almond shaped, my nose was smaller, and my skin didn't have that bluish tint that everyone else's had even though I was still extremely pale. There was something else that I couldn't put my finger on that made me different than everyone else. But I was definitely a vampire. There was no doubt about it. And I was happy. I didn't spend too long though looking in the mirror. I wanted to get back to Matt.

Once downstairs, Alice was shrieking and skipping around the room. I was surprised that I hadn't heard her upstairs. Edward was grinning and whispering to Bella who then squealed. She told Esme who then looked like she was about to burst with pleasure and start crying. Jasper looked like he was about to break out and dance around the room with Alice, while Emmet who was being told by Carlisle looked like he was about to laugh, it scared me, I was quite sure his laugh would end up breaking something.

Then everyone left hurriedly. All that is except for Matt. He turned to face me.. walked over to me... and got down on one knee. "I decided to do this the right way. Claire, Will you marry me?" I did everything I could not to shriek like Alice, dance around the room like Jasper, squeal like Bella, or cry like Esme. So I just nodded and hugged him as he slipped the ring on my finger. It was beautiful. It was a diamond that was surrounded by Aqua Aura and opal in a heart shape.

I couldn't help it, I couldn't keep it in any longer, I burst out crying, in dry sobs that where the only way I could express my happiness. Once he stood back up, I hugged him and his arms enveloped me in an embrace that felt like heaven. We just stood there like that for a while, completely blissful. I don't know how long Alice had been standing there with a camera in hand but after a bit the flash of a camera lit the room for a fraction of a second making us look away from each others eyes. "There, the first picture of the happy new couple." Alice giggled. She then yelled for everyone to come back in the room to see my engagement ring.

That must have been what everyone was so excited about, Alice must have seen this coming. "Well not exactly Claire" Edward said walking in the room, his arm around Bella who was holding one of Nessie's hands while Jacob was holding the other. "She saw that she was going to do your wedding." "Don't worry Claire." Bella chimed in. "She did ours and it was better than I could have dreamed. I don't remember it that well, I was still human when we where married but what I do remember was amazing." By the time she was done, I wasn't sure if she was talking to me or Edward. The look they shared was too intimate for me to watch for long. My eyes wandered back to Matt, where it felt like they belonged. His eyes where on me as well. "When shall we get married love?" Hmm... that was a good question... "Hey Alice? About how long would it take you to plan the perfect wedding?" I asked her. She stopped dancing with Jasper to answer me. "Um... for you, to get all the dresses made and everything arranged, probably a week." "Perfect" Matt and I said at the same time, we all laughed.

I decided I wanted to ask Rosalie to help with the wedding. "Hey Rosalie, how much do you hate me?" She chuckled and an embarrassed look crossed her face"I don't hate you Claire and I'm sorry if I've acted like it. It just takes me a while to get used to things. I would love to have you as a sister though." She smiled warmly at me and I smiled back "Well thats good to hear. I was wondering if you would design my wedding dress?" I had seen her designing different clothes on some sort of touch screen computer with Alice once so I thought she would like to. Her eyes lit up and she immediately started appraising me. "Well if you want me to..." I could tell she was just saying that, a plan already forming in her mind. "Thank you so much!" I almost squealed.

"Oh, but there is one thing" Bella started "If you guys are joining the family, then we'll need to get you enrolled at the high school. Hmm... Claire, you will be Alice, Edward, and Emmet's sister, and Matt, you will be rose and Jazzes half brother. That should work. You and Alice definitely have to be related Claire, and Matt, you could pull it off pretty well. What do you guys think?" "I think its weird." I stated. I continued when Bella looked a bit confused and insulted "I mean come on, Alice is my grandmothers big sister!" We all cracked up. Alice skipped over from Jaspers arms and gave me a hug. "I agree, It's definitely kinda weird, thinking of my great niece as a sister. But I like it." "Me too I said giving her a hug back"

Bella said Edward should drive Matt and I over to the school. Why, I had no clue. Edward also looked confused. When he questioned her she made the strangest face, like she was concentrating really hard on something for a second, then gave Edward a look like she was trying to tell him something. He laughed and nodded.

Once in the car, he explained. "You know how you, Alice, Jasper, Matt and I all have these special powers?" I nodded "Well so does Bella, only hers is a bit different, you see, she can shield herself and others from mental abilities." I was so confused. He chuckled. "You see, I cant read her mind. To me it sounds like she isn't even there. She had this ability as a human, but when she first became a vampire, she learned to do two things with it. First to encompass others around her in her shield, and then she figured out how to push the shield completely from her mind when she wants to, though its hard for her and she has to concentrate pretty hard to do it. Shes getting better though." he said proudly. I was amazed, I hadn't heard him say that much since arriving here. He chuckled.

"I'm almost surprised that you didn't know that already." he commented "What do you mean?" Matthiew chuckled, he had been told this already. "Have you heard of the Twilight Saga?" Hmm.. the name rung a bell. Oh! It was the book series my friend had been trying to get me to read because one of the characters reminded her so much of me... wait... Alice... "Are those stories about the Cullens" I asked, now wishing that I had read them so I would better know what was going on. "Kind of, its the story of how Bella and I met" Wow, some couples put their engagement in the newspapers, Edward and Bella get theirs published. Edward laughed out loud at that. "Hey, it wasn't our fault." I was now even more confused. "Alice decided that our story was too good to not publish, so she found Stephenie Meyer and whispered what happened in the meadow to her. She wrote it down the next day and from then on, at night, Alice would visit her and whisper the story to her. She wrote it down and published it. Alice kept this up through till a few years ago, the year Bella became a vampire and had Renesmee. We all where mad and at first the volturi where furious, but some how Alice and Renesmee convinced them that no one would believe it, and it was just for entertainment purposes only. The woman did a pretty good job though, and now it gets annoying for now we have to move around more often because people, girls especially, are literally out there looking for us."

Wow. Both Matt and I where looking at each other stunned to silence. My great aunt could be very mischievous some times. "Oh definitely" Edward replied to my thought as we got out of the car in front of what looked like a small brick house like building surrounded by other house like buildings, each with a sign saying what building number they where. The one we where parked at had a sign saying it was the front office.

We walked in with Edward leading the way, and when the woman at the front desk looked up at Edward, I saw why Bella had said for Edward to go. As soon as she saw him, the woman looked back down blushing, trying to straighten out her shirt, and catching her breath. I couldn't help but smile. I knew what she was going through, I could barely contain myself when I looked at Matt. "why he-hello Edward. How can I help you?" she batted her eyes, it freaked me out that the woman, who by the looks of it was in her forties or fifties at the least was trying to seduce Edward. I heard Edward chuckle, too low for human ears.

"Hello Ms. Cope, I am here to see if my little sister Claire Cullen and Rosalie's half brother Matthiew Hale could start school here" "Oh, of course" she stammered, unwillingly ripping her eyes away to look at us, no, glance at me and stare at Matt. I suddenly felt a pang of jealously and protectiveness as I snuggled closer to Matt and wrapped my arms around him. Edward chuckled again and Ms. Cope looked at me with an exasperated look before she turned her attention back to Edward.

"I haven't seen you in a while Edward, hows college going? Is Bella liking college?" She said the name with a bit of contempt. I was grossed out again and I saw Edward tense up a bit at what I guessed was a mental curse towards Bella. "Yes. College is going wonderfully, Bella and I are both studying education, we plan to teach together when we get out of college." Any sign of hope Ms. Cope's face had held disappeared from her and disappointment took its place. "Well thats nice" she said curtly. She turned to look at Matt. "Well you two are all signed up. You should be able to start classes on Monday.

I smiled at her but looked up at Matt when he didn't respond. His eyes where unfocused as if he was staring off into space. I gently squeezed him until he looked down at me with an annoyed expression. At first I had thought it was annoyance at me until he looked at Ms. Cope and said almost rudely "Could you please put us in the same classes?" ah, he must have seen that the woman was going to try to put us in different classes to keep us apart. "Um, ok, I'll do what I can" she mumbled. When we got home, Alice looked like she was ready to explode.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10:

Becoming Claire Cullen

Apparently, while we where gone, Bella had gotten some papers that declared me to be a Cullen and Matt to be a Hale. We had stopped and picked up all four books in the Twilight Saga on the way home, and thanks to my enhanced abilities, I was halfway done with the first one, and I realized that I was probably the envy of almost as many girls my age as Bella probably was. Edward chuckled, his mind reading thing was a bit annoying, and whispered what I thought to Bella, though I could hear the whole thing as well as everyone else in the room. "Tell me about it." Bella said rolling her eyes "You have no idea how many people have come up to me telling me that I look like myself. I'm surprised that no one has told you how much you resemble your great aunt here." I laughed with her, poor girl.

"Actually, they have though I just kinda tune them out after a while. Thats part of the reason I was hesitating on reading it in the first place. I didn't want to see myself in a book" everyone laughed. But I had a question, I hoped I wasn't becoming one of those fan girls Jasper had told me about when he had seen me carrying the book though... "Would it be intruding on you twos privacy if you showed Matt and I the meadow? It sounds beautiful." I asked. Bella concentrated again and had a silent conversation with Edward. "Sure, we would love to show you two" Bella said after a bit.

When we walked into the meadow, I stopped dead in my tracks. It was beautiful, almost perfectly symmetrical with a little stream babbling a little ways away, just like it was described in the book. It was perfect. My vision became blurred and I saw myself standing in the meadow wearing the most beautiful white flowing dress imaginable, all the Cullen's around me with Jasper and Matt standing at the head of the meadow at an alter. I knew immediately that this was what I wanted, but as I was coming back to the present I worried that it would be intruding on Edward and Bella's special place, I looked at Edward and bit my lip. He was whispering in Bella's ear so quietly that I couldn't hear. When I looked up at Matt, he was staring off into space, hopefully having the same vision I had. I wanted him to see the perfect picture and enjoy it too. Whether or not it would happen. He looked down at me, his golden topaz eyes warm, smiling. Yep he must have seen it too.

Edward and Bella had finished up their conversation and where looking at us when I finally looked away. " It would be our pleasure to hold your wedding here" Bella said smiling. We where interrupted at that moment by Alice, just a blur, zooming into the meadow. "Oh Claire, Matt, this will be lovely!!!" she sang dancing around the meadow like a ballerina with an energy drink. Then she stopped to glare at Matt. "But you saw the vision too, you saw her wedding dress, you aren't supposed to see it until tomorrow!" That was when I realized that the wedding was tomorrow. Wow.

The next day was full of me being locked in Alice and Jasper's room by Bella and Esme, and Matt being locked in his by Emmet and Jasper. Edward, Rosalie, and Alice where running around downstairs setting things up in the meadow. I had finished the series the night before, and Bella told me that Jacob and his pack, who where still separate from Sam Uley's pack, where joining us in the meadow for the wedding.

At about twelve a clock, Alice came running in with what looked to be a cosmetic bag, Rosalie coming in right behind her carrying a wedding dress. I sat there feeling more like a mannequin than a bride to be. The thought of being Matt's bride was what pushed me through the dressing ceremony. Speaking of Matt, I wondered out loud what the guys where doing. "Oh they're getting ready too." Bella answered. I wanted so bad to see Matt, I missed him. Even though Matt had already seen the dress through the vision, Alice insisted on him not seeing me the day of the wedding until I was walking down the isle, she took that seriously. At 11:59 last night, she whisked me away and we haven't seen each other since. I wondered if he was missing me too.

Finally, after hours of fussing over me, with Rosalie doing some touch ups on my dress, Alice giving me a manicure and a pedicure before putting my shoes on, Bella washing, curling, twisting and adding beautiful clips to my hair, and Esme finishing the job by putting on my veil everything was complete. When I got up and looked in the mirror, I almost cried. I didn't know what to say, standing in the mirror was the pure image of peace, happiness, and love. Perfect I thought. "Oh thank you guys so much!!!! this is perfect!!!! I couldn't help but start crying." Once I was done sobbing, Bella left and came right back holding the most beautiful bouquet, full of many different kinds of lilies, orchids, and irises. Tied together with ribbons that hung gracefully down from the flowers. Then I heard Edward start playing a song on the piano which had been moved to the meadow for this occasion, it was a song he had written for Matt and I, it was our song. It was time.

We drove to the end of the road, and I was carried by the girls to the meadow, it must have been a sight, Bella carrying me in her bridesmaid dress, Esme who was going to escort Carlisle, wearing her dress holding my dress off of the ground, Rosalie in her bridesmaid dress walking ahead of us to hold back any branches, and Alice in her bridesmaid dress carrying my train. Luckily we where going at full speed so it only took a minute or so. Just outside of the meadow, a path had been cleared. They set me down and got me adjusted. Alice gave Edward the signal and he started playing a version of the wedding march that was some how beautifully intertwined with the song he wrote for us. Matt was already up at the makeshift alter with Jasper who was going to marry us.

First up the isle was Renesmee who was our flower girl. She danced and twirled down the isle tossing petals every where, like a little cherub. Then came Esme and Carlisle, arms linked, walking down the isle to the beat of the music smiling. Next was Rosalie, Bella, and Alice who each had a smaller version of my bouquet. They walked in time to the music, with Alice in the lead and Rosalie and Bella forming a triangle behind her.

The music changed and got a bit louder, it was my turn. I walked through the soft ferns that had been blocking me from the view of everyone else. As I walked in time to the music I looked around. I saw Jacob and his pack, the clan from Denali that where old friends of the Cullen family, and someone who looked like Bella's dad, then my eyes landed on Matt.

He was a vision, standing there smiling at me, holding his hand out to me. He was so handsome. When I reached the alter, Jasper smiled and promised the congregation that it would be short. They laughed. He said a few words about love and loyalty though I was barely paying attention, for Matt was whispering in my ear making it next to impossible. Then I heard him say his vows. At the end he slid a ring that was a solid gold band except for a small diamond in the middle on my finger. I did the same. "I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride." Jasper said, starting out loud and his voice fading almost to a whisper.

Matt bent down and pressed his lips to mine. I lost my train of thought and kissed back without really knowing what was going on. Some how I ended up being cradled in his arms though we hadn't broken our kiss. When we finally looked away I could barely contain my joy.

Matt was perfect. The Cullen family was perfect. Alice was perfect. Forks was perfect. Everything was perfect. That was when I realized that I was finally complete. I was in the arms of the man I loved, looking out over the family and friends that I loved and would learn to love. If I could have cried tears I would have. This moment was perfect, something I could never, would never forget.

Looking back through my life I realized that the whole time, I was looking for something. I still don't know what exactly it was, but I found it in Matt, I found it in Alice, I found it in the Cullen family that I was now and forever a part of, I found it in becoming Claire Cullen.


End file.
